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Water sport boot scoops design award

Friday 23 July 2010, 8:12AM

By Massey University

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Finalist Wanderest, by Nichola Trudgen.
Finalist Wanderest, by Nichola Trudgen. Credit: Massey University
Winning design Lucid, the wakeboard boot designed by Julian Schloemer.
Winning design Lucid, the wakeboard boot designed by Julian Schloemer. Credit: Massey University

A boot designed by a Massey graduate to reduce the incidence of wakeboarding injuries has won this year's coveted James Dyson Award.

Julian Schloemer says his design, called Lucid, is intended to make wakeboarding, a surface water sport, safer. Wakeboarding was developed from a combination of snowboarding, water skiing and surfing techniques. Injuries from the sport are on the Accident Compensation Commission's list of top 10 adventure sport claims.

A Christchurch-based industrial designer, Mr Schloemer, 23, who studied at the University's College of Creative Arts in Wellington, came up with his idea after he injured his knee practising the sport.

"Current wakeboard bindings are designed to hold the feet onto a board, even after a fall," he says. "This increases the chance of injuries when one or both feet can't be freed. Lucid's main difference is its release mechanism guaranteed to let go of the rider's feet when a certain pressure is applied.

Head judge and designer David Lovegrove says Lucid is the accumulation of a number of innovative features that, combined, make a unique product.

As part of his prize Mr Schloemer was named a British Council New Zealand Design Ambassador and received $3000 travelling expenses and accommodation to travel to Britain where he will tour Dyson’s research, design and development facility.

A finalist in the annual awards was Albany campus fourth-year industrial design student Nichola Trudgen for Wanderest, a detachable seat made to be strapped to lamp posts as a resting perch for the aged.

"Walking can improve and even extend a person’s life," Ms Trudgen says. "I often walk with my Grandma, who lives in a rest home, and have seen her struggle out of public seats and benches because they are low, and awkward to get out of."

James Dyson, an engineer and inventor of the Dyson vacuum cleaner, says experimentation and creativity need to be cultivated amongst young designers if we are to see future innovations emerge. "This award is about giving the next generation of engineers and designers a head start."

Six New Zealand entries, including the three national finalists, will progress to online judging in the international James Dyson Award competition, with the winner announced in October.

College of Creative Arts students and graduates have been finalists in the national competition every year since the award began in 2001, and have won in eight of the 10 years. Previous winners are:

  • 2001: Dion Christie, Massey Wellington – skateboard show with a replaceable outer.
  • 2002: Tee Smith, Massey Wellington – products to make learning the guitar easier.
  • 2003: Lyndon Craig, Massey Wellington – Digit apple measuring system to measure the growth rates of apples on the tree.
  • 2004: Leon Oliver, Massey Wellington – man overboard lifeboat system to recover crew lost overboard from deep-ocean racing yachts.
  • 2007: Stephen Smith, Massey Albany – Arctic Skin cooling vest for athletes.
  • 2008: Alexander Wastney, Massey Wellington – therapy table.
  • 2009: Tim Cox, Massey Wellington – ultrasound tool set designed to quickly measure the commercial worth of forests.